Pete Hegseth just labeled the press treasonous. The White House calls reporters the enemy of the state. And somewhere between the hot takes and the hate mail, working journalists still have to show up every day and tell Americans the truth. On this Friday Football edition, Paul sits down with News Nation anchor Connell McShane — one of the most fair, prepared, and genuinely decent people in cable news — to pull back the curtain on how a centrist newsroom actually operates in Trump’s America. McShane breaks down his daily discipline, the independent media bias ratings he uses as a north star, and why he believes a free press is both a privilege and a right.
From there the conversation widens into something bigger: how to raise kids, coach a football team, and keep your head on straight when the country feels like it’s coming apart. Paul and Connell swap stories on Fordham, John Sterling, Mike Breen, Fraunces Tavern, and the ghosts of George Washington. They close with a full Football Friday slate — Bama-Mississippi State, Ohio State-Iowa, Bills-Pats, and the 12U New York City Lions rolling the wishbone into Queens. It’s the no-BS, veteran-led conversation independent Americans need heading into the weekend.
In this episode
- Connell McShane on how he actually prepares — 5:30 a.m., five newspapers, two quiet hours before anyone talks to him.
- “Preparation breeds confidence. Confidence breeds success.” The mantra Marty Glickman handed down at Fordham that still drives his newsroom.
- Pete Hegseth calling the press treasonous — and what it’s like to watch people you’ve worked with turn on the First Amendment.
- Why McShane rejects the White House line that journalism is “a privilege, not a right” — and what covering China taught him about the difference.
- The Ad Fontes media bias ratings McShane uses as his north star — and why News Nation grades out at less than one off center.
- Hate mail from the Lou Dobbs lead-out after the 2020 election, and what it taught him about letting the news drive the show instead of the opinion.
- Watching your own game film — the media-training discipline every anchor, podcaster, and coach should steal.
- A love letter to New York City — Fraunces Tavern, O’Hara’s near Ground Zero, the Knicks run, and why the energy is back.
- Parenting advice: “Give yourself grace.” The toughest job you’ll ever love.
- Full Football Friday card — Bama at Mississippi State, Ohio State at Iowa, Rams-Eagles, Bills-Pats, Saints-Falcons, and the 12U Lions wishbone rolling into Queens.
